Happy Holidays, Ron on the Rocks

[00:00:00] What is going on everyone? Welcome to another episode of Our Brains Hurt. Thank you so much for hanging out for this shortened end of the year episode. Take it away, Jason's.

[00:01:04] It's just me tonight, little Ron, alone. Just wanted to chat with you guys about what's been going on with us. Actually, I'm not really going to chat about that. I'm going to talk about what's been going on with my band, The Blanks.

[00:01:15] We played two shows in the past week, one at the Pie Shop in D.C. on December 7th. We saw a lot of you there. It was a fucking blast.

[00:01:23] A classic Our Brains Hurt end of the year party. Headlined by the Huntingtons. Also played was Dead End Lane, The Stivs, Beatnik Termites, and The Blanks, my band.

[00:01:39] It was very cool to be playing again at the Pie Shop. I hadn't played the Pie Shop since the fall of 2019 with my old band, The Ailments.

[00:01:46] So it was awesome to get back on stage there. We've done so many shows, Matt and I, at the Pie Shop. A lot of you guys have been there for those.

[00:01:52] Whether it's national touring bands, local bands, friends bands, whatever. We've done so many.

[00:01:58] And it was really fucking cool last weekend to be back on stage there, tearing it up with the new band, The Blanks.

[00:02:06] And Hawk gave us an awesome intro. And if you're there, you know that Hawk kind of came on stage.

[00:02:12] Hawk is the bouncer at the Pie Shop, one of the bouncers. He's the bouncer that usually does our shows.

[00:02:17] And he's good friends of ours. And Hawk is fucking rad. The Pie Shop is rad.

[00:02:21] If you're looking, if you're in the D.C. area and you need pies for, if you're hosting people for the holidays,

[00:02:28] whatever you celebrate or New Year's, go to the fucking Pie Shop and support them.

[00:02:32] They are the coolest fucking venue in D.C.

[00:02:35] And one of the very few that still puts on local shows.

[00:02:40] So keep them going. I'm not saying they need the help, but fucking help them.

[00:02:46] They're fucking worth it. They're fucking fantastic.

[00:02:48] And the people who, those of you that have been there know how cool that fucking place is.

[00:02:52] They treat the bands great.

[00:02:55] Anyway, so I finally got on stage again at the Pie Shop. It was fucking fabulous.

[00:03:01] It was a great turnout. We had my friend Mike that was recording.

[00:03:05] If you guys couldn't, for whatever reason, if you couldn't be there,

[00:03:09] my friend Mike from high school, we've been friends for years and years, he's a videographer.

[00:03:13] He filmed the entire show.

[00:03:16] He filmed it for virtual reality and regularly.

[00:03:20] If you don't have a VR headset, you'll still be able to watch it on YouTube and stuff and it will look fine.

[00:03:24] But if you have a VR headset, you'll be able to watch the show as if you were there.

[00:03:29] Straight up close and personal with me and the rest of the Blanks and all the other bands.

[00:03:35] It was a great time.

[00:03:36] So thank you so much for those who showed up and came out and hung out and partied.

[00:03:43] It was awesome.

[00:03:46] I'll talk more about that show in a second.

[00:03:47] But this past weekend, the Blanks, we went up to Asbury Park, New Jersey,

[00:03:53] played a show with Burnt Mill Ghost and this band called Huge.

[00:03:57] Huge, I think there's a member or two from Murphy's Law.

[00:04:00] I think the lead singer of Huge was the old bass player of Murphy's Law.

[00:04:04] A couple older hardcore dudes.

[00:04:06] Fucking fabulous band.

[00:04:08] They were so cool.

[00:04:09] We played at a place called Wild Air Beer Works, this brewery up in Asbury Park,

[00:04:14] just a few blocks off the beach.

[00:04:18] Really good beers.

[00:04:19] I had a couple of their beers, but the one in particular, good, good thing,

[00:04:22] it was named after, if you're a Descendants fan, you know what it's named after.

[00:04:25] But it was Doppelbach, 7.5% alcohol.

[00:04:29] Great fucking beer.

[00:04:30] If you're in Asbury Park, go to Wild Air Beer Works.

[00:04:34] I just want to give an extra special shout out to Burnt Mill Ghost.

[00:04:38] They invited us up.

[00:04:40] We got to use all their shit.

[00:04:42] All we had to do was bring our guitars and some cymbals,

[00:04:45] and they were fucking rad.

[00:04:47] And then at the end of the night, Ian, the bass player, hosted us at his house.

[00:04:53] And we went back to his house and fucking partied all night.

[00:04:58] Like literally all night until like 7 in the morning.

[00:05:00] Well, I went to bed at 2.30, but the other dudes partied until 7.30 in the morning.

[00:05:03] I'm 47 now. I'm old.

[00:05:07] So shout out to Ian and his significant other.

[00:05:12] He just moved into a house, so congrats, Ian, for buying that house.

[00:05:15] That house was fucking rad.

[00:05:16] Built in 1790 with tons of land.

[00:05:19] And yeah, it was a rad fucking night.

[00:05:23] So thank you, Burnt Mill Ghost.

[00:05:25] You guys are fucking awesome.

[00:05:27] I know we'll be playing again in the future.

[00:05:29] We'll have to do it again because I think we're a good fit.

[00:05:32] And a special extra thanks to Ian for putting us up that night.

[00:05:35] That was rad.

[00:05:36] So go check out Burnt Mill Ghost.

[00:05:38] They're on Spam Records.

[00:05:41] Everybody, I think, who listens to us has heard of Burnt Mill Ghost.

[00:05:44] I mean, they're pretty big on the East Coast.

[00:05:45] But, you know, Christmas is coming up.

[00:05:48] It's almost here.

[00:05:49] By the time you hear this, it's only, well, I'm recording this now and I'm going to post it tonight.

[00:05:53] So you hear this.

[00:05:55] It's December 15th.

[00:05:57] No, it's December 16th tonight.

[00:06:01] My anniversary is in two days.

[00:06:03] Hooray for me.

[00:06:03] 14 years.

[00:06:04] Love you, Georgia.

[00:06:06] But, yeah, go support Burnt Mill Ghost.

[00:06:08] Check out their shit.

[00:06:09] Check out Huge.

[00:06:10] Check out Wild There Beer Works, Pie Shop.

[00:06:13] You know, these are all entities, people who are great to us in the past week and a half.

[00:06:18] So I just wanted to, you know, shout them out.

[00:06:21] And, you know, if you guys are in the need, go support them.

[00:06:28] I'm going to play a song.

[00:06:29] This is so we, you know, back in September, the Blanks went down and recorded a few songs

[00:06:34] with Joe Queer.

[00:06:35] We did a Christmas song.

[00:06:37] This song is called Dee Dee Wonderland.

[00:06:39] It's on Bandcamp for a buck.

[00:06:42] If you want to buy it, if not, I'm putting it in.

[00:06:45] It's about to start right now.

[00:06:47] And you can listen to it here for free over and over again.

[00:06:49] And if you want the song and don't want to pay a dollar, hit me up and I'll send it to you.

[00:06:52] I don't give a fuck.

[00:06:53] It's a dollar.

[00:06:53] Whatever.

[00:06:54] I mean, whatever.

[00:06:55] I put it as a dollar because they make you make it cost something.

[00:07:00] So if you want the song and you can't afford a dollar, hit me up.

[00:07:03] I'll send you the fucking song.

[00:07:05] But here it is.

[00:07:06] This is a so we recorded this, like I said, down in Marietta, Georgia with Joe Queer back

[00:07:11] in September.

[00:07:12] Joe Queer and myself are on backing vocals.

[00:07:15] Of course, you got Justin Blank on the guitar and the main vocals.

[00:07:18] You got Danny Blank on drums.

[00:07:20] Myself, Ronnie Blank on the bass guitar and backing vocals.

[00:07:24] So on this song, you will hear me and Joe doing backup vocals.

[00:07:27] And Joe Queer also does a spot on the second guitar.

[00:07:32] There's a guitar solo.

[00:07:33] The second half of the guitar solo, you'll hear a second guitar come in.

[00:07:37] That's Joe Queer.

[00:07:38] He actually it's funny.

[00:07:39] The day we were recording the vocals and doing kind of patchwork on all the songs, the last

[00:07:46] day in the studio, Joe had to go pick up this guitar that he had just bought and he's

[00:07:49] going to he's going to start touring with.

[00:07:53] So Jairo Munoz, shout out Jairo, Joe's engineer down there in Marietta.

[00:07:58] Jairo's from Columbia.

[00:07:59] He's a fucking rad ass dude.

[00:08:01] He was working with us while Joe went to go pick up the guitar.

[00:08:03] Joe came back with the guitar and he's like, hey, I have an idea for that song, that DD

[00:08:07] Wonderland song.

[00:08:08] So the first time Joe ever used this guitar that he's going to be starting the tour with

[00:08:14] was the second half of that guitar solo.

[00:08:16] You'll hear him come in for a few seconds and do kind of like a dueling guitar solo.

[00:08:20] So this is DD Wonderland.

[00:08:23] Merry Christmas.

[00:08:24] Enjoy the song.

[00:08:26] Share it.

[00:08:27] Tell people about it or don't.

[00:08:29] Just enjoy it.

[00:08:30] This is DD Wonderland from the blanks.

[00:11:20] So there it is.

[00:11:21] DD Wonderland from the blanks.

[00:11:23] We play that.

[00:11:25] I mean, we play that song all the time, even though it's a Christmas song, because we're

[00:11:28] a punk band and, you know, who gives a fuck?

[00:11:30] It's a good song.

[00:11:31] So but come on out and see us and you can hear it.

[00:11:34] You'll hear it.

[00:11:35] If you've seen us, you've heard it.

[00:11:36] Um, so yeah, it's and that should be coming out soon on a seven inch from Little Lost Girl

[00:11:44] Media.

[00:11:45] Um, it's being worked on right now.

[00:11:48] So stay tuned for details on that.

[00:11:50] And we will also be putting out an EP of the other songs that we recorded when we were

[00:11:55] down in Marietta with Joe Queer.

[00:11:57] So we're excited about that.

[00:11:59] Back to the shows that I was talking about earlier on December 7th, the day before my

[00:12:03] birthday.

[00:12:03] So it was kind of like a birthday show to getting back on stage, uh, at the pie shop

[00:12:08] in DC was awesome.

[00:12:10] Um, you know, Hawk really hyped us up and kind of came on stage, give us a cool intro.

[00:12:17] Um, like I said, Hawk's a dear friend.

[00:12:18] He's rad and he's such a good dude, but it was funny cause at the end of our set, he came

[00:12:23] on, he came back on stage and was, and, uh, he gave the dreaded encore and, uh, we played

[00:12:31] all over the song.

[00:12:32] We don't, we don't have songs in our pockets.

[00:12:34] You know what I'm saying?

[00:12:35] Like, um, that was our, that was our fourth show ever.

[00:12:40] And what you heard is what we had.

[00:12:43] But Justin thought quickly, whispered a couple notes in my ear, looked over at Dan, told him

[00:12:49] the same thing.

[00:12:49] We ended up playing another song that we, it was a cover that we, uh, played on the

[00:12:53] fly.

[00:12:53] So I was proud of us for kind of putting that together.

[00:12:55] It was a fun night.

[00:12:57] The Huntington's played right after us and played an entire hour of the Ramones, which

[00:13:02] you can't fucking beat that shit.

[00:13:04] Um, unless you are the Ramones, then of course you could beat it.

[00:13:08] But it was awesome to hear a rad band like the Huntington's play Ramones for an hour.

[00:13:13] Uh, it's a great night.

[00:13:14] So thank you again to everybody who came out and, uh, hung out, had fun, celebrated my birthday.

[00:13:22] Speaking of my birthday, I have to give shout outs, more shout outs.

[00:13:25] This episode is a song and shout outs.

[00:13:27] I hardly ever use the term shout outs and I've used it 800 times in just the past second.

[00:13:31] Anyway, uh, Aaron from dead in lane made me this fucking giant roasting pan full of

[00:13:38] this, uh, pumpkin rigatoni.

[00:13:41] It was like a cream sauce rigatoni.

[00:13:43] It was pumpkin.

[00:13:44] It was out of this fucking world and it was gone in a few days.

[00:13:47] Um, thank you so much.

[00:13:50] She also got put this big card together.

[00:13:53] Um, Aaron and I have this kind of, uh, this weird running, uh, inside joke of, uh, of

[00:14:01] Nick Cage being the greatest actor of all time.

[00:14:03] I don't think it's a joke.

[00:14:04] I mean, if you saw Moonstruck, Nick Cage's performance in Moonstruck is the best performance

[00:14:09] of any actor in the history of the planet earth.

[00:14:11] So, um, anyway, so it was, it was a Nick Cage themed card that she made and put together.

[00:14:16] And if you saw it, you saw it.

[00:14:18] If not, you missed out.

[00:14:19] But, uh, thank you so much.

[00:14:21] Uh, that was really cool that she did that.

[00:14:23] And, um, Richard and his what Richard Craddock friend of the show and his wife, Kathy, uh,

[00:14:28] got me an awesome, just, she runs a, a vegan bakery.

[00:14:34] Okay.

[00:14:37] And normally it's called Kickshaw's gluten-free bakery.

[00:14:40] It's in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

[00:14:41] If you're down there, fucking go to it.

[00:14:43] Here's the thing with me and vegan shit.

[00:14:45] I never eat it because I don't, I never like it.

[00:14:47] Okay.

[00:14:48] I, I've, there's, it's, it's pointless for me to try shit because I know I'm not going

[00:14:53] to like it.

[00:14:53] I love butter and butter makes everything a million times better.

[00:14:58] Having said that they gave me this German chocolate cupcake with coconut on top.

[00:15:04] It was fucking good.

[00:15:06] It was really fucking good.

[00:15:07] And I've, I don't know that I've ever said I've, I've, I know I've, I've reviewed things,

[00:15:13] uh, not gluten-free, vegan things in the past when I said that they were not horrible.

[00:15:18] I think not horrible is the best previous to today.

[00:15:24] Not horrible is the highest praise I've ever given a gluten or I keep saying gluten-free

[00:15:31] a vegan thing.

[00:15:33] That's the highest praise I've ever given something vegan is it's not horrible.

[00:15:36] This cupcake was actually really good.

[00:15:39] So again, if you're a vegan and if you live down in Fredericksburg or anywhere near there,

[00:15:44] go to Kickshaw's gluten-free bakery, check them out on, um, Facebook at Kickshaw's FXBG.

[00:15:53] Just look them up.

[00:15:54] You'll find them, support them, um, and tell Richard that IPAs suck.

[00:16:00] That's his only flaw as a human, but you know, we can't all be perfect.

[00:16:03] Anyway, thank you guys.

[00:16:05] Uh, it was a fun night.

[00:16:06] You guys made my night and, um, you know, it was great.

[00:16:10] So having said that, keep us, you know, look for us.

[00:16:15] Uh, we're going to be getting shows together for the coming year.

[00:16:18] I usually start to hear from, uh, tour managers of national bands in January and February about

[00:16:24] putting together shows for the spring and the summer.

[00:16:26] So stay tuned.

[00:16:28] I know our podcast episodes, episodes have been spotty at best over the past couple months.

[00:16:34] Uh, Matt and I have a bunch of other shit going on.

[00:16:37] We're really busy.

[00:16:38] And all I can say is we'll be back in January better than ever, but stick with us.

[00:16:45] I know you will.

[00:16:46] I mean, you don't have to do anything anyway.

[00:16:47] All you have to do is listen whenever we put shit out.

[00:16:49] So fuck you.

[00:16:51] But thank you for being there.

[00:16:53] Thank you for another awesome year where we've been doing this for over four years now.

[00:16:57] So, uh, keep listening and we'll keep putting shit out eventually.

[00:17:01] And we'll, we will try to, we'll try to, uh, right the ship and, and, and tighten shit

[00:17:06] up here in the coming year.

[00:17:08] But, um, Merry Christmas, happy holidays, whatever you celebrate.

[00:17:11] I don't give a fuck.

[00:17:12] Happy holidays and a happy new year.

[00:17:15] And, um, again, thank you so much for showing up when we do stuff and yeah, just have a good

[00:17:22] one.

[00:17:22] And I will talk to you guys down the road.

[00:17:25] All right.

[00:17:26] Love you all.

[00:17:27] Happy holidays.

[00:17:29] How do I do this shit?

[00:17:30] I can still hear you.

[00:17:33] Uh, so what, what do I have to press?

[00:17:36] Close.